By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Just as the 2026-27 LSU men’s basketball season nears, new coach Will Wade has added a major piece to his 2027-28 team.
Wade has gained a commitment from five-star prospect King Gibson, a combination guard from Greensboro, North Carolina, who played at Spire Academy High School in Geneva, Ohio.
Gibson (6-foot-4, 185 pounds) is the No. 15 player in the country, No. 3-ranked combo guard and No. 2 player in Ohio, according to 247sports.com’s composite rankings. He averaged 16.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the Team United travel team last spring and summer. He scored 14.6 points a game with 4.2 assists for Spire Academy last season.
Gibson visited LSU last month, according to an ESPN story Sunday night. Gibson chose LSU over Arkansas, Louisville and Providence. He also had scholarship offers from Alabama, Auburn and Missouri, among others.
“We have been building our relationship for a while,” Gibson told ESPN. “Coach Wade was recruiting me when he was at North Carolina State.”
Wade coached North Carolina State in the 2025-26 season only before taking the LSU job shortly after last season and returning to Baton Rouge, where he previously coached LSU from 2017-22. Wade led the Tigers to the 2018-19 Southeastern Conference regular season championship, but he was suspended for the NCAA Tournament that season because of an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations. LSU fired Wade in March of 2022 for six Level 1 recruiting violations. He returned to coaching at McNeese State in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons before landing the North Carolina State job.
“He is a great coach, and I like their system,” Gibson said. “He listens to his assistants, too. They work together. He communicates well with his players. I spoke to some of the players on the team. They trust him, and they love him. Coach Wade has a big personality. He definitely likes to joke around off the court.”
Gibson will join previous Wade commitment Ahmad Hudson (6-6, 239 pounds) of Ruston High in Ruston. Hudson is a considered a top 20 national recruit and is also a five-star college football prospect at tight end. He has said he wants to play basketball and football at LSU.
Wade’s Tigers’ open the 2026-27 exhibition season at McNeese State at 6:30 p.m. Thursday night in Lake Charles.
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